resstation

Let's not put ALL the fault on the TA. You must have given her your money before looking over and accepting the proposed arrangements (you may not know anything about cruising but clearly were not interested in a same day flight, for instance) or blindly just said "Take care of it" and she did. And now you don't want to escalate it with the agency so that an agent you think is incompetent enough to "cause some passengers to quit cruising" can continue to cause issues with other family's hard earned money. This is how incompetent people remain incompetent. If the travel agency has been there "for as long as you can remember" someone in there has been doing something right for a very, very long time. Most "brick and mortar" agencies are long gone since the internet took over.

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And I hope you mean you paid the TA with the commission she will receive after you have cruised and nothing additional. Travel agents - good ones - work for commissions paid by suppliers not their customers.

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Where did you find this TA? Does she work alone or does she have a manager you can speak to? You can have your booking transferred to a different TA. DO NOT stay in an interior cabin with four people. It will be your firsr and last cruise. When are you sailing?

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October 28th has to be wrong. I just booked that date yesterday. Wouldn't they have stopped selling cabins? If they cancel your cruise do you get anything when you rebook or are you just out of luck?

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Smoking rates do go down as income levels and education levels go up.....

 

That may be true in the US but not in Eastern Europe or Eastern Asia where almost 50% of all males smoke. It is about 22% overall in the US.

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Most of the Caribbean islands have beggars, drugs etc (especially after a particularly harsh hurricane season). It sounds like Hawaii would fit your needs much better. If I HAD to choose and Southern was out, I'd choose Eastern.

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Good question. Following.

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OMG Im in so much trouble.

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The word "nasty" should never be used for food unless it is spoiled. It is really offensive to the people who enjoy it. It doesn't matter the nationality. I'm always taken aback when someone calls food on a plate, in front of someone who is eating it, nasty or disgusting. Manners. Use them.

Best review Ive ever read! Thank you for your matter-of-fact style with no whining!

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Your description of the shower reminded me of the shower in the 2 bedroom suite on the NCL Pride of America. One tiny bathroom and a shower stall that we could barely fit into. To wash our hair and raise our arms up required covering the bathroom floor in an inch of water if we were not incredibly careful. It was definitely an adventure!

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We will be on the Seaside in April and plan on never getting off the ship! We've cruised the same ports for years and they are just lackluster and tired as far as we're concerned. We live in Florida, so most of what is offered is something we can do here or we've already done it. We are looking forward to staying onboard and enjoying the peace and quiet. We've done this for a few cruises now and love it.

Good question - following

Its YC or another cruise line for us. Sailed twice on Divina in YC and the difference is, frankly, staggering. MSC is getting exactly what they want. The people who don't mind paying a little more for YC at a price point MUCH MUCH less than the comparable amenities on other cruise lines AND the people who just want to go on a cruise and pay the least possible amount - and then complain about it later. They have a win-win product. There are only a certain amount of cabins in the YC which are almost ALWAYS sold out so MSC is not manipulating their poor service to get more people to book YC.

What would you like to know? I have pictures but don’t post them on cc.

I would like to know if someone with an allergy to milk, cream, butter... would be able to enjoy the dinner without missing out on too much.

I gave up a suite on Seaside so I could be inside Yacht Club, just based on my experience on Divina!

With MSC, it is YC or nothing!

YES, I agree 100%

I think you are right about canceling and waiting until you can sail in the YC. We were on the Divina twice, both in the YC and I can't imagine being anywhere else on the ship. I saw what people were complaining about with my own eyes, and then took the elevator up to a MUCH better experience (there are always a few problems, even in YC but we are pretty easygoing and enjoy our vacations). We don't want to spend the RIDICULOUS prices for the other line's top product and the difference between the prices in the YC and other lines is significant. So when we cruise on other lines, a regular balcony cabin is great. There is no way I would do anything other than YC on MSC. It just isn't worth the frustration no matter how much money is saved.

The difference in cost between the Yacht Club and the other "American" cruise lines is extraordinary and worth every penny - even with some snafus that are bound to happen. I've been on countless cruises and the Divina is the only ship I've been on twice, once from Miami and once from Barcelona. The YC is the way to go on MSC. If you can't go YC, then I do not recommend that you sail on MSC. From what I saw on the last two MSC cruises ANY other cruise line beats the other categories.

I'm following as I would like to know too! I think I may have to cancel our reservations anyway because I have just been diagnosed with a dairy allergy and I'm not sure what is going to be served. Hope someone who has done it can reply.

I have been recently diagnosed with allergies to dairy products. I did submit a form to MSC so that they are aware, but does it help? Do they acknowledge it on board? Of course, I will let them know at meal times - just wondering how they handle it. We will be in the YC restaurant for meals. Thanks in advance!

Following - 86 more days to go!

I will also be writing a review of the Yacht Club and the Royal Suite while I'm onboard.

I sail January 6, 2018...six days away!!!

Wonderful! We can't wait to read it. We are in the Royal Suite in April. Take LOTS of pictures! :D

Yes the seaside deals are great i believe the price goes up sept 5 th so you booked att a good time

I actually booked it the first day bookings opened. My husband thought I had lost my mind to book something 3 years in advance. Haha

We're sailing April 2018. I kept searching for an opening on the Royal Suite and found one. I CAN'T WAIT. We did the Royal in Europe on the Divina and it was incredible. I can only imagine the suite on the Seaside. It looks amazing. No other cruise ship offerings can compare to the Yacht Club when you look at the pricing. Something to look forward to!!

NOTE: I wrote the post below before trying to upload the pictures and none of them will upload. Is there somewhere else I can upload them or is there a trick for getting them to upload here??

We returned from the cruise last Sunday and I think I'm just getting over the jet lag! We live in Florida, a 6 hour time difference.

Before the cruise I looked everywhere for some pictures of our cabin but there were very few. Here are a few - I've included some with the couches made up as beds so you can see what they look like. The couch in the small bedroom is just for one person and is pretty short. My son is 6'1" and moved the ottoman to the end of the bed so his feet could rest on it. He said it was "comfortable enough". I'm sure he was just happy that he had his own space with plenty of closet room, shelves, TV and a beautiful window view. We had the couch in the living area made into a bed a couple of nights because I thought I might have been catching a cold and I didn't want my husband to catch it - ended up just being a scratchy throat, nothing serious.

We asked for extra coffee and extra creamers and the butler, Jay, made sure we got them restocked every day.

It was a wonderful cruise and an extraordinary cabin for the Na'Pali Coast viewing. It was on the port side. I've also added some pictures of the Coast from our balcony. Jawdropping.

The food was outstanding - but we didn't eat in the main dining room at all. We had the Ultimate Dining Package so we ate at a different specialty restaurant each night. Never had a bad meal. I have tweeted many of the meals on the ship and some in Honolulu on my account (at)meetmymeal